electricity holds the power of life and death [Music] at the end of the 19th century unlocking this force of nature is a puzzle as tempting as it is dangerous it's untested unproven uncontrollable vast fortunes and brilliant minds will be pitted against each other in an all-out battle to harness the power of electricity Thomas Edison [Music] Nikola Tesla two inventors with opposing visions on a collision course with each other and history [Music] gentlemen I give you the future of electricity [Music] it's the epic war to power the world [Music] a team of young engineers is under pressure to find a solution to a daunting challenge [Music] [Music] how many tries to sense you'll know 100 maybe persistence patience perseverance when something doesn't work there's always another solution just 31 years old Thomas Edison is the most famous inventor on the planet he's already brought the world an astonishing invention the phonograph and earned himself the nickname The Wizard of Menlo Park medicine represents for lots of people the essence of Yankee ingenuity he was brilliant he was insightful but equally extraordinarily hard-headed and practical pragmatic businessman his success as an inventor is unrivaled but now Edison is trying to do something no one has done before create a safe inexpensive light source that could replace the gas lamp and is powered by electricity he's experienced over 100 failed attempts but now in October of 1879 Edison is about to find the element that will allow his light bulb to burn steadily safely and repeatedly carbon [Music] the use of carbonized thread is a breakthrough but the invention of the light bulb is only half the battle to replace gas lighting with electricity Edison will have to design and build an entirely new industry it wasn't enough to just have a light bulb because remember in 1879 when Edison's working on this there are no pre-existing sockets there are no plugs there is no wiring in your house so if you're gonna have lighting in your house or in your business you're gonna have to build everything so it meant that Edison had to think in terms of an entire system [Music] but Edison isn't the only genius trying to solve the problem of electricity i reversed seeing the direct electrical current the Dynamo can function as both a motor and a generator giving us at least the potential to waste energy mr. Tesla there is too much friction if you remove the commutator as the machine will run more efficiently and how do we create a rotating field without the commutator I don't know in a university in Austria an ambitious physics student is formulating an idea for a radical new way of generating electricity his name is Nikola Tesla [Music] Nikola Tesla had a vision a vision of what's to come into the future Tesla had enormous dreams and he had the genius to carry them out [Music] a generator creates an electrical current that naturally reverses its flow periodically and Tesla's time electrical current is delivered by channeling that current in a single direction it's called direct current but Tesla envisions fully harnessing our generators naturally alternating current Acey would be a stronger and more efficient way to deliver electrical power but there's just one problem it's never been done before it was very radical cuz nobody has figured out how to make an AC motor that would work because they were all thinking about the traditional way in which you designed a motor Tesla was a dreamer he could envision a technology in his moment this is going to be the future of Edison Electric Thomas Edison is on the verge of creating a system that will allow him to bring his new light bulb into people's homes however all in Wall Street over here to the first generator this is the second generation really Edison pitches his direct current concept to his investors as safe simple and reliable hoping to convince them that his system could be the new standard light source in people's homes [Music] a lot more than 500 customers not bad for starters welcome to Pearl Street Station [Music] located in Manhattan Pearl Street Station is the first power plant in the world within two years Edison builds 18 new power plants but each can only provide power within a half-mile radius you could only really build power plants in very densely populated cities because otherwise it wouldn't be economically feasible so right away rural and smaller towns were kind of frozen out of that power equation over 3,000 miles away at an Edison factory outside Paris Nikola Tesla has a different idea for years Tesla has been trying to perfect his own invention an alternating current motor [Music] and now he finally has a working prototype [Music] but to prove his idea Nikola Tesla will have to come to America and confront the most famous scientist in the world [Music] [Music] Thomas Edison has begun the process of wiring the country and the world [Music] using a system called direct current [Music] but he is about to cross paths with Nikola Tesla a man who is convinced that he knows a better way to power the world it must have been amazing for Tesla I think he must have seen men la barca as a big playground I'm sure Tesla thought I finally found my home I finally found a kindred spirit it's been three days what's going on we adjusted the rotors it's got to be the gun mutators kind of tennis what do we have us but before Tesla can present Edison with his big idea for alternating current he'll have to earn his trust mr. Edison sir I have a letter from my supervisor so what do you do mr. Tesla I am an inventor okay and I can fix things is that right yes I can fix anything yes right Edison gives Tesla a difficult task to fix a problem plate generator the first of its kind ever installed on a ship [Music] I think Edison would do that with a lot of people that he hired he would send them out and into something that might seem very difficult or even impossible and just see if they could handle that [Music] [Music] short-circuits burned out some of the armature coils was an easy fix [Music] Tesla just showed that he was able to kind of be parachuted into a problem and come up with a novel solution I think that's something that that Edison really admired because that was part of his own genius the Edison Electric Company is growing at an incredible rate and now supplies power to the Barons of American industry [Music] but Edison's direct current system has its limits it can only deliver power effectively within about a half mile of a power station Nikola Tesla believes his alternating current can travel much farther and bring electricity to everyone [Music] but the power of alternating current comes at a cost they both have their dangers and their advantages in the distribution of electricity but at that particular moment in time at the voltages that were being operated with our understanding the system of the time the high-voltage AC seemed clearly more dangerous despite the dangers Nikola Tesla is convinced his system is superior [Music] you have two minutes [Music] imagine a central power station with one generator what kind of generator alternating cut it you can do thee welcome any DC generators and it's being first you can't control it they'll burn down the city we want to impress me improve the system we've got you cracked that you get the $50,000 prize you you [Music] the solution its anaesthetise Avery's under you hire suggestions with my assistant [Music] [Music] about the bonus the $50,000 he said if I successfully design a DC generator that I will get a bonus a fee that was a joke how was that a joke yeah obviously don't understand her American sense of humor get back to work as a result of not getting the $50,000 from the Edison Company Tesla basically decides that you know what I don't really need the Edison Company instead of working for Edison Tesla will work against him determined to prove that he is right the war for the future of power is about to begin by 1885 Thomas Edison's direct current is transforming downtown New York into a city of light but his former employee Nikola Tesla believes DC is too limited and that his alternating current is the future of power now he has to prove it Nikola Tesla leaves Edison's lab and for a while is unemployed and has a hard time finding work there's not a lot of work for experimental electricians at the time with no other job prospects Tesla is forced to find work digging trenches trenches for underground cable for Edison Electric by the time I get this system laid it'll be out of date we can carry a current to half miles pathetic I could design a plant who arranged a hundred times larger for a fraction the cost is that true you can count on it but he talks about it while he's digging the ditches and one of the people it finds out that he's got this idea is the superintendent of thought ditch-digging project and he says you need to come and meet my friend a Wall Street financier who had invested and developed a whole series of companies for Tesla it's the opportunity of a lifetime but simply explaining alternating current to investors won't be enough he needs to show them and exactly what it can do this is not for conversion but makes use a full possible voltage no commutators no brushes no more breaking parts but more importantly no fish gentlemen if I may this is one of the characteristics of Tesla that's really important is he was very good at coming up with sort of simple demonstrations to show people what the possibilities were for the technology who's working on a rotating magnetic field alternating current gentlemen the future of electricity Tesla is able to show how a spinning egg controlled by electricity is analogous to an engine the demonstration is a hit and Tesla gets his first investors now he's ready to take on Edison's electric Empire Tesla's opportunity may be coming at just the right time by 1888 Edison's system is struggling to meet demand but he still refuses to abandon direct current [Music] five years of investment personally and from bankers like JP Morgan in developing a direct current system he's gonna build central stations people are going to invest in those central stations he's gonna earn money from those he knows it's going to work [Music] but now Edison has competition with his investors money Tesla opens a lab not far from Edison's Pearl Street Station determined to show the world what alternating current can do Tesla's idea of alternating current was very much a populist idea it wasn't that a few big power plants would be producing power for a few large companies it was that everyone could be electrified but he still needs to find a way to boost a seize power [Music] alternating current travels and waves with gaps in between the peaks Tesla envisions a second signal out of sync with the first to fill in the gaps [Music] Tesla does have a vision about alternating current it comes to in a kind of picture and he's able to see that as the way to transmit electricity over long distances and from that point on he really held fast to that and is eventually proven correct [Music] as alternating current comes closer to being realized Thomas Edison's electric Empire is about to face its greatest threat the most famous inventor in the world Thomas Edison is being challenged by an unknown genius Nikola Tesla but to break Edison's monopoly on electricity [Music] Tesla must prove that alternating current can do more than just like the world it can also power machines [Music] gentlemen good afternoon no commentators two phases one-fifth of a horse power [Music] I'll give you the future of electricity alternating current [Music] Tesla's system can power a motor with almost no friction [Applause] and can deliver that power more efficiently than Edison's finding an alternating current motor that could be used to help compete with DC systems was important the motors would be the future to the success of this industry now alternating current not only turns on the light at great distances it can power almost any kind of machine the motor allows you to use electricity for with all sorts of applications running elevators running fans running dental drills Tesla's motor comes along and is the game changer now the Tesla has perfected his idea it's time to sell it Tesla's motor gets the attention of George Westinghouse one of the richest men in America Westinghouse was a kind of railroad baron for many years and he saw electricity as this untapped market as a way to really make his fortune I'll pay $5,000 for a 60-day option then contingent on purchase $60,000 total and I'll cover legal fees we ejected offer options contingents legal fees this is the talk of someone investing in something he does not believe will succeed for the electricity you will sell for every horsepower you pay two dollars and fifty cents Westinghouse accepts and pays the modern-day equivalent of some two million dollars to secure the rights to Tesla's patents together Tesla and Westinghouse will build a power system to rival Edison's [Music] but one technical hurdle remains the high voltage needed to send electricity over long distances and power large machines can be deadly so alternating current is great but you have to work out all of the insulation all of the safety devices because a hundred thousand volts will kill you to solve the problem Tesla looks to a new device developed by European engineers called a transformer you can have a transform too basically one that hundred thousand volt current gets to the location where you want to use it you can step it down from a hundred thousand to a hundred ten volts which is safer inside your house because the transformer allows you to do that step-down function [Music] the transformer will not only make alternating current possible it will make it safe [Music] but in spite of the advantages of AC power Edison is committed to building his empire with direct current Edison's great weakness is his inability to shift his mindset as the industry changes as the market changes he wasn't gonna let naysayers prove him wrong that he could solve the problem he was invested both financially and his personal reputation [Music] if Tesla and Westinghouse want Apollo war Edison is ready to give it to them [Music] the battle lines have been drawn in the war over electricity Thomas Edison strategy proved that alternating current is deadly dangerous [Music] it's untested unproven uncontrollable imagine being the first person to get in a hot-air balloon before they'd invented a way to land it what is your system there's no danger to life health or person with any current generated by Edison dynamos Edison believed that the AC system was much more dangerous because of the higher voltages and so far his standpoint this was a crucial problem and there are certainly plenty of other people who see this as a potential danger in the streets of the city [Music] [Music] to prove his point Edison's team decides to go negative the Edison managers come to Edison and they say we're going to have to take this Pentti AC campaign up another notch he's got so much at stake that he's willing to do this smear campaign [Music] they conduct experiments with dogs there are demonstrations for the newspapers and public to show that larger animals could also be electrocuted [Music] to seal his case against AC Edison needs to go beyond animals it's time [Music] [Music] Edison is asked to advise the state of New York on a new way to execute criminals for the first-ever electric chair Edison recommends his rival system [Music] [Music] a thousand volts course through convicted murderer William Kemmler but it's not an instant death turns out to be quite a gruesome execution which serves adjusting quite well because that's what he wants to show he wants to show very dramatically that alternating current is what he calls the death curve they could have done him in better with an axe [Music] so this is how alternating current will be judged [Music] as the battle for power turns ugly Westinghouse needs a major public victory for AC [Music] the current wars are about to have the ultimate showdown [Music] but how do you know it's so dangerous it's untested unproven uncontrollable Thomas Edison is waging a relentless campaign to defend his direct current system against Nikola Tesla and his backer Westinghouse Electric their final showdown will come at one of the largest natural power sources in North America [Music] Niagara Falls the Niagara Falls power company is looking for a way to harness up to 225 thousand cubic feet of water flowing down the Falls every second and generate the power equivalent of more than a million tons of coal per year [Music] [Music] Edinson meets with his board to pitch his plan for the Falls to generate DC power [Music] gentlemen we have a proposal we'd like to submit to the Niagara Commission Edison logics already got a proposal Edison Electric is becoming a new company General Electric behind Edison's back the board decides that alternating current is the way to go and they know that Edison will never go along with this so they shut him out of any of the proceedings and built this company it'd be nothing without me and you're driving it into the ground it's time to turn a profit your penny counters you can't see anything but your Ledger's leave the business to us [Music] Edison has lost the confidence of his board and control of his empire Edison's very bitter he's the brains behind the company he's technically the reason the company exists they just care about what's going to make the money [Music] Edinson will be forced to watch the battle for Niagara Falls from the sidelines [Music] while Nikola Tesla makes the pitch for Westinghouse [Music] gentlemen mr. Nikola Tesla and pleasant [Music] ten generators two thousand two hundred fifty volts each producing 37,000 kilowatts here the current is increased to twenty two thousand volts for travel how far Alba me New York City Chicago this will revolutionize the industry as we not [Music] the Niagra contract goes to Westinghouse and Tesla alternating current wins the pivotal battle of the current Wars but for Westinghouse it may be too little too late Tesla's licensing fees they're crushing us [Music] the endless legal battles with Edison and fees owed to Tesla have driven westinghouse electric to the brink of bankruptcy [Music] to keep westinghouse in business and save his vision for AC power tesla decides to give up the millions of dollars in licensing fees he's entitled to [Music] [Music] a move that cost Tesla his personal fortune people don't realize but Tesla suffered from mental illness today we call it OCD obsessive-compulsive disorder but back then we were clueless about this and so because of this obsessiveness that he had it impaired his work later in life when he should be enjoying the fruits of his endeavors other people were raiding his patents other people were capitalizing on his world without giving him proper credit and he was suffering from mental illness Tesla will live out his last years in a New York hotel in 1943 he dies penniless and alone his rival Thomas Edison will be awarded over 1,000 patents in his career more than any other inventor but losing the current wars to Nikola Tesla would mark the most bitter defeat of his career in the electricity battle you see Edison probably at his most human he allows his ego to take over Edison bought into his own myth a little bit he loved being The Wizard of Menlo Park he loved being the publicly acclaimed genius and the idea of losing a big battle in electricity was just something that he didn't want to face Tesla's alternating current would go on to power America for the next century and beyond the battle between Edison and DC and Teslin AC was ultimately won by Tesla today 99.99 percent of all the electricity in this country is generated and distributed using alternating current and that comes down to the ideas and the vision the Tesla had in the late 1880s Tesla's clearly the winner of the Battle of AC versus DC